I filed for unemployment in North Carolina on March 31st and have been struggling to get my claim approved ever since. I've been certifying my weeks as required, but it's been months without a single payment. Initially, they claimed there was an issue with a fictitious employer and asked me to provide my W-2 from last year to prove my employment. After sending it in, I was told everything was fine and that I would be paid for the weeks I certified in April. However, when I called around May 22nd, I was informed that my claim had expired and I needed to resubmit it. I spoke with a supervisor who assured me that I would still receive payment for those weeks, but now, a month later, my online status shows "issues delaying payment, layoff/lack of work pending." I called again for an update, but they just said it's being worked on and when I pressed for more details, I was hung up on. This whole process feels incredibly frustrating and I can't shake the feeling that they're intentionally delaying approvals to make the economy look better than it is. I've never faced such difficulties with unemployment or job searching before, and I'm curious if others are experiencing similar issues.